Life
October, November and December were hardest on my emotions. The family is trying to cope with the issue of cancer. My cat has diabetes and has been in and out of the vet hospital. I think my emotions are frayed and gone to the point of exhaustion.

Finances
Not too pretty at the moment. I hope to get a job. Yes, job hunting, again.

I end this short blog post with a nice review of Phoenix With A Purpose.

Hot steam plumed in the air, issuing forth from various stations manned by harried servants. There were sounds of chatter and of chopping. The smells were overwhelming. All heat and steam. A young chef was decorating a dish with a carved edible figurine of a bird in flight. Two women were slicing fresh sea-carp into paper-thin petals, placing them onto fine porcelain plates to be served raw with a savory dip. Steamers with sweet and savory pastries were lowered into the cookers. A group of apprentice cooks was mixing sauces, ladling thin soy into delicate sauce bowls and blending spices into glutinous pastes.

~*~Fei added a pinch of sea salt into the broth fei was making. It was a seafood broth, with cooked clams opened up like little pink butterflies and red crustaceans with bristly feelers and claws.

***1) What is the working title of your next book?
Heart of Fire. It is the third book of my urban fantasy series set in Singapore.2) Where did the idea come from for the book?
As it is set in Singapore, ideas are drawn from the many cultures and traditions, especially the Chinese. I also draw from character observation (people-watching helps, a lot).3) What genre does your book fall under?
Urban fantasy.4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
My main character – Jan Xu – would be portrayed by either Grace Park or Ming-Na Wen. But of course, I would find a Singaporean actress to portray her.
The drake lord – Kevin Sutherland – would be fleshed out perfectly by Daniel Craig.
(I can dream on and on, can’t I?…)5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Jan Xu defeats her inner demons and pulls herself together to protect her pack against old and new enemies.6) Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
Not self-published nor represented by an agency.7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
A year.8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Charles de Lint?
It’s not your typical urban fantasy novel with the heroine getting it on with the hero (or villain). So, to be honest, I couldn’t find any books to compare the book to.9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?
Singapore. And the wish to read something I could connect with.10) What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?
Chinese traditions. An unique wolf-shifter culture. Something different from US-centric tropes. Something I want to resonate with.

When the Empress of the Phoenix Court, matriarchal ruler of the Alliance Planets, gave birth to her first daughter, the royal midwives took blood samples from the blood-covered newborn and ran routine tests. The princess was healthy, immensely so – and she carried the gene that would turn human to phoenix. The midwives brought the good news to the resting Empress who, tired after an exhausting labor, simply nodded and drowsed, the little princess in the crook of her right arm.

The gene carried the phoenix flame, the vital spark triggering the fantastic transformation from human to a mythological bird created from fire. No one knew how the gene came about, only that it was passed down from mother to daughter, from a matrilineal bloodline stretching way back to Old Terra. What people knew was that certain women could shape-shift into glorious birds of light and energy, and the gene could jump generations.

Stories and myths grew around this genetic gift, an almost magical aura surrounding the Phoenix Court which, in itself, was purely Imperial and political in nature, run by women and female relatives. These lordly women sent their starships across the galaxies, founding and strengthening the Alliance Planets, a conglomeration of planets and colonies formed after the Dispersal from Old Terra, with inter-marriages and pacts. As they spread their influence like large cosmic wings, so did the myths and legends of phoenixes.